Tuesday 21 November 2017

Mango-King of Fruits




The most popular in many parts of the world, mangoes are in the same family of plants as pistachios and cashews, which are also tropical, fruit-bearing trees that can grow up to 100 feet in height. Oval in shape and around five inches long, mangoes are heavy because of the single, large seed or stone in the middle, which makes them a drupe. Mangoes have a yellow-golden tone when ripe, sometimes with patches of green. The fruit surrounding the seed is succulently sweet, fresh, and juicy with just the right touch of tartness. Their natural tenderizing properties make mangoes a great ingredient for marinades for any type of meat.


Mythbusters

Myth: The whole fruit, including the skin of the mango, is edible.
Truth: The skin of the mango isn’t considered edible. In fact, mango leaves are considered toxic and can possibly kill cattle or other grazing livestock. Dermatitis can also result from contact with the resinous latex sap that drips from the stem end when mangos are harvested.
Mango Fun Facts

The paisley pattern, made popular in India, was an inspiration from the shape of a mango.



Monday 20 November 2017

Lychee-Your Fruit to Freshness


Sometimes known as "litchi" or a similar spelling variation, the exotic lychee fruit is from the soapberry family. The evergreen trees they grow on can reach 100 feet, and produce red or pale orange fruits with a tough, "bumpy," easily peeled skin resembling large raspberries. Each contains white flesh and a single, large, inedible seed, which makes this fruit a drupe. Lychee is juicy with a distinctive, slightly acidic fragrance and flavor, comparable to grapes.




Mythbusters

Myth- Lychees if consumed in a large number is good for health!
Truth- lychees should be consumed in moderation because they contain fructose, which may be harmful to your health in excessive amounts.

Lychee Fun Facts

When Emperor Wu Ti of the Han Dynasty conquered the Southern capital of Canton (Guangdong), he was introduced to the juicy, flavorful "laichi" fruit. He loved it so much that he ordered 500 trees to be planted, but they all died in the frigid northern temperatures. He tried it again with similar results. He then remedied his taste for the fruits by demanding them to be paid as tribute. Later, mature trees were transported and carefully tended for a successful crop.



Saturday 18 November 2017

Kiwi- Key to Vitamin K


Kiwifruit is a surprising little fruit, and is unlike any other. First, it's small and light brown in color with a fuzzy skin surface. Inside, the fruit is not only lime green and studded with tiny black seeds in an oval pattern when sliced, but it's also delicious, rather like the flavor of a strawberry. Peeled, sliced, and chilled, kiwifruit is an excellent addition to any fruit salad combination or by itself. Today, Italy, Chile, France, Japan, and the US are the highest producers of two varieties: green and gold. Kiwifruit is not only a scrumptious food, but is also used for its ability to tenderize meats, due to the compound actinidin.




Mythbuster

Myth- Kiwifruit is called “Chinese Gooseberry”

Truth- The fruit in ancient times in China was known as Yang Tao. In the late 1960s in the US the fruit was called “Chinese Gooseberry”, although it's doubtful that this moniker ever really stuck. Luckily, kiwifruit got its new name – in honor of New Zealand's native bird (Kiwi) - from an enterprising food distributor.

Kiwifruit Fun Facts

Placing kiwifruits in a brown paper bag for four to six days will help them ripen. Keeping them in a paper bag with an apple, banana, or pear will speed up the ripening process even more.


Friday 17 November 2017

Jackfruit- Let’s Get Stuffed


Having a distinct musky smell and deliciously sweet taste, jackfruit is a unique tropical fruit that is typically harvested during summer and fall. It can grow to enormous sizes, measuring between 10 -60 centimeters in length, 25-75 centimeters in diameter, and can weigh between 10-100 pounds, making it the largest tree-borne fruit in the world. Specimens weighing more than 100 pounds have also been recorded. Jackfruits are found mostly in the Southeast Asia.  


Jackfruit Fun Fact

Jackfruit emits a sweet yet putrid stench that has been described as a combination of overripe bananas, onions, pineapple and passion fruit. Like durian, the giant fruit is banned in airports and plane cabins, but it isn’t prohibited as cargo.


Mythbuster

Myth- Jackfruit and durian are same?

Truth- Jackfruit and Durian are similar looking fruits found mostly in Southeast Asia both are green on outside and inside is the fibrous fruit which has seed covered by its flesh. The basic difference between Durian and a Jackfruit is that the rind on a Jackfruit is blunt, round and short on the other hand the Durians’ rind is spiky and sharp as compared to the jackfruit. Adding to the smells the Durian has an unpleasant noxious aroma, and the jackfruit has a sweet musky odour which is enough to differentiate between them!
Hence, Jackfruit and Durian are not same!



Wednesday 15 November 2017

Iceberg lettuce- Your Irresistible Healthy


Iceberg lettuce has been surrounded by various criticisms saying that it is one of the most “useless” vegetables in the culinary world. People have even claimed that eating iceberg lettuce is as nutritious as eating cardboard. This is probably because, compared to other varieties of lettuce, iceberg lettuce has a lower nutritional content. But to believe that it’s as useless as eating cardboard simply robs you of the nutritional benefits that it can actually offer you. It was first called the “crisphead” lettuce because of its texture and shape. Its name, “iceberg,” came from the fact that this vegetable was often sent to other states and areas in trucks filled with large amounts of ice to preserve it and slow down its decay.



Mythbuster

Myth- Iceberg lettuce is not healthy!

Truth- Considering that iceberg lettuce is usually found in salads – the staple food for people who are trying to lose weight – it comes as no surprise that the calories in iceberg lettuce are relatively low. It contains about 10 calories per serving. This is usually attributed to the fact that about 96 percent of it is water!

Lettuce Fun Fact

The name of iceberg lettuce is adapted from an incidence in Italy where the vegetable was kept in cold storage to keep it fresh for a longer period of time. The containers were filled with ice which gradually appeared as little icebergs in the storage with lettuce leaves. Hence, the vegetable got its name as “Iceberg Lettuce”.

Tuesday 14 November 2017

Hemp-The Wholesomeness of Hemp


A controversial crop that’s been alternately demonized and defended for at least 80 years, hemp has run the proverbial gauntlet in the US due to political factions, special interests, and downright suspicion. Nevertheless, every bit of this ancient plant is useful and valuable, and not just for rope, but for textiles, auto parts, cosmetics, dynamite, supplements, food, and medicine. In ancient China, hemp seed was regarded as food for the lower classes, and in Europe, a peanut butter-like spread was made from the seeds, in both cases with the hulls intact. Today, you’ll find nutty-tasting (hull-less) hemp seeds and their oils baked in breads, cookies, and cakes, blended in smoothies, or tossed into quinoa and pasta dishes, burgers, pizza, vegetables sautés, soups, salads, oatmeal, yogurt, trail mix, and salad dressings. It’s a niche market, with a growing number of specialty outlets due to a growing understanding of this food’s nutritional benefits.




*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Mythbuster

Myth- Hemp is the most demonized and misunderstood plant in the world.
Truth- The truth about the hemp plant is, it is the most useful and beneficial plants of all times. Hemp seed oil is used in various cosmetics, such as skin creams, shampoos, shaving creams, lip balms etc. There are so many ways to add hemp into your diet… hemp seeds can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, made into hemp milk, or prepared as a tea.

Hemp Fun Facts

Legend has it that Buddha went on a fast lasting six years, sustained by eating a single hemp seed every day, a period known as his “fast of enlightenment." As the Purdue University Horticulture website terms it, “This apocryphal story holds a germ of truth — hemp seed is astonishingly nutritional.”